Weekend Music -- Woodstock

 

Boomer music haters, feel free to keep going, because today gives us another opportunity to look back on an exceptionally creative time in popular music, and specifically what many consider the peak musical event of that time: the "Woodstock Music and Art Fair," a.k.a., just "Woodstock."  On August 15, 1969, its 32 musical acts including Santana, Richie Havens, Grateful Dead, CCR, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone, CSNY, and Jimi Hendrix provided the soundtrack for a ramshackle, muddy, indulgent, chaotic 3-day counterculture trip.  We like Alexandra Petri's description of the phenomenon:

"Woodstock didn't define a generation because everyone showed up or those who did were a perfectly representative sample. It defined a generation because, for a few days, it bottled its peculiar zeitgeist."

One artist who wasn't there was Joni Mitchell, who wrote her wistful, achingly beautiful, utopian tribute to the festival based on what she saw on television.  If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye, or a lump to your throat, well...  Here's "Woodstock."

 

Beatles fans might note it was 60 years ago today that they performed at Shea Stadium in New York in front of 55,600, up until that time the largest attendance at a pop concert.  Woodstock shattered that record with its attendance pegged at 460,000.

Mid-Week Song

 

Tomorrow marks the 55th anniversary of the iconic Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in Bethel, NY. The great Joni Mitchell composed her anthemic song, "Woodstock," to commemorate the historic gathering, which had an estimated 450,000 attendees over the three day festival.  Enjoy.

Weekend Music Twofer

 

A belated happy birthday to the great singer/ songwriter Joni Mitchell, who turned 80 (!) on November 7. Mitchell has created some of the most iconic music of her generation during a career that's spanned 60 years.  She's influenced countless musicians -- including Prince, Madonna, David Gilmour, Lorde and, yes, Taylor Swift -- and was awarded the Gershwin Prize this year for her contributions to popular music.  Friend Judy Collins recorded Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" first in 1968, making it an international hit. This is Mitchell's original recording from the 1969 album "Clouds."  From her 1970 album "Ladies of the Canyon," here's our second selection, "The Circle Game."  Hope you enjoy two exquisite songs and their creator.

Mid-Week Birthday Twofer: Joni MItchell

On this great morning for celebrating women's victories, we send the happiest of birthday wishes to singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, who turns 75 (!) today. From the late '60 onward, Mitchell's music has formed part of the soundtrack of our lives. Winner of nine Grammy awards, including one for her lifetime achievements, Mitchell influenced a generation of artists from Madonna to Katy Perry with her vocal style and songs.  Perhaps her best known composition, "Both Sides Now," was made a popular hit by Judy Collins, but it was also Mitchell's breakout song. Hope you enjoy these songs.

Sunday Reflection - Going, Going...

"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." -- Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi."  Here's Stephen Miller, dead- eyed aide to President Steve Bannon, laying out the white nationalist Republican rationale for a national voter ID law for the purpose of suppressing Democratic votes:

This is the start of a massive Republican Party effort to suppress the vote across the country.  https://t.co/mocktFiDfe

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) February 12, 2017

White House senior advisor doubles down on unsubstantiated NH voter fraud claims: “Voter fraud is a serious problem in this country” pic.twitter.com/DC6lVPQznz

— ABC News (@ABC) February 12, 2017

Republican in Congress, having seen our anger and energy in rallies and town hall meetings, want to nip the progressive resurgence before it can cost them their seats.  Resist these vicious, lying hyenas and their authoritarian plans to end democracy in America.

Weekend Song - The Carousel Makes A Round

Tomorrow is incandescent singer/ songwriter Joni Mitchell's 72nd birthday.  One of the greatest exports ever to come from Alberta, Canada (unlike the now- defunct Keystone pipeline), Mitchell has been in ill health since suffering a brain aneurysm in March 2015, although she's said to be responding to therapy.  This is one of our favorite compositions of hers, "The Circle Game," from her blockbuster 1970 album "Ladies of the Canyon."

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Weekend Stardust Song

"We are stardust, 
We are golden,
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the Garden."

Forty-five years ago today in Max Yasgur's field in upstate New York, a festival billed as "3 days of peace and music" began.  That was Woodstock.  Half a million people showed up under sometimes difficult weather conditions to watch 32 acts perform, including much of rock royalty: the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, CCR, and (in only their second live performance) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Although the venue was the "Woodstock Festival," Yasgur's farm was actually in Bethel, NY, about 45 miles from Woodstock.  In retrospect, it was probably the high water mark for the counterculture generation; the eponymous song about the festival written by Joni Mitchell expressed the hope and spiritual desire to "get back to the Garden" in the midst of the Vietnam War and social upheaval.  Joni didn't attend Woodstock and had to rely on then-boyfriend Graham Nash for some of the song's lyrical inspiration.

Here's Joni's recording of "Woodstock," made into a hit later by CSNY.  Enjoy your weekend (and peace!).